Indie Comic Review: The Goldfish and Bob

The Goldfish and Bob is, on the surface, a cute story about a Ziggy-like character who has a Dilbert-like job and a silent fish. Sounds pretty derivative. Except it isn’t.

Goldfish and Bob is actually a metatextual comic that explores the limitations of life at the same time exploring the limitations of the comic medium. At the time the comic was written, 2001, webcomics were in their infancy. A self-published book like this was limited to whatever audience Todd Webb could find in his local area. But now, a decade later, the borders have expanded and the opportunities for his books to be noticed are limitless.

The same can be said about Bob. A person trapped in his life, bordered and limited by his surroundings discovers that, instead of dreaming about being free, he just needs to find his own freedom.